Multi-step anneal of thin films for film densification and improved gap-fill

ABSTRACT

A method of annealing a substrate comprising a trench containing a dielectric material, the method including annealing the substrate at a first temperature of about 200° C. to about 800° C. in a first atmosphere comprising an oxygen containing gas, and annealing the substrate at a second temperature of about 800° C. to about 1400° C. in a second atmosphere lacking oxygen. In addition, a method of annealing a substrate comprising a trench containing a dielectric material, the method including annealing the substrate at a first temperature of about 400° C. to about 800° C. in the presence of an oxygen containing gas, purging the oxygen containing gas away from the substrate, and raising the substrate to a second temperature from about 900° C. to about 1100° C. to further anneal the substrate in an atmosphere that lacks oxygen.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/598,939, filed Aug. 4,2004, entitled “MULTI-STEP ANNEAL OF THIN FILMS FOR FILM DENSIFICATION AND IMPROVED GAP-FILL,” the entire contents of which are herein incorporated by this reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As semiconductor device densities continue to get larger and isolation structures between devices continue to get smaller, the challenge of isolating individual devices from one another gets ever more difficult. Improper device isolation is the root cause of a number of device defects, including current leakages that waste power, latch-up that can cause intermittent (and sometimes permanent) damage to circuit functioning, noise margin degradation, voltage shift, and signal crosstalk, to name just some of the problems.

Prior device isolation techniques included local oxidization on silicon (LOCOS) processes that laterally isolated the active device regions on the semiconductor device. LOCOS processes, however, have some well known shortcomings: Lateral oxidization of silicon underneath a silicon nitride mask make the edge of field oxide resemble the shape of a “bird's beak.” In addition, lateral diffusion of channel-stop dopants make the dopants encroach into the active device regions, thereby overshrinking the width of the channel region. These and other problems with LOCOS processes were exacerbated as device size continued to shrink with very large scale integration (VLSI) implementation, and new isolation techniques were needed.

Current isolation techniques include shallow trench isolation (STI) processes. Early STI processes typically included etching a trench having a predetermined width and depth into a silicon substrate, filling the trench with a layer of dielectric material (e.g., silicon dioxide), and finally planarizing the dielectric materials by, for example, chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP). For a time, the early STI processes were effective for isolating devices spaced closer together (e.g., 150 nm or more), but as the inter-device space continued to shrink, problems developed.

One of these problems is avoiding the formation of voids and weak seams during the deposition of dielectric material in the trenches. As trench widths continue to shrink, the aspect ratio of trench height to trench width gets higher, and high-aspect ratio trenches (e.g., aspect ratios of about 6:1 or more) are more prone to form voids in the dielectric material due to the premature closure of the trench (e.g., the “bread-loafing” of the dielectric material around the top comers of the trench). The weak seams and voids create uneven regions of dielectric characteristics in trench isolations, which adversely impact the electrical characteristics of the adjacent devices and can even result in device failure.

One technique for avoiding voids is to reduce the deposition rate to a point were the dielectric material evenly fills the trench from the bottom up. While this technique has shown some effectiveness, it slows the overall production time and thereby reduces production efficiency. Thus, there remains a need for device isolation techniques that include the efficient filling of inter-device trenches that also reduce and/or eliminate voids created in the filled trenches.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention include a method of annealing a substrate. The substrate may include a trench containing a dielectric material. The method may include the steps of annealing the substrate at a first temperature of about 200° C. to about 800° C. in an oxidizing environment, or ambient. The method may also include annealing the substrate at a second temperature of about 800° C. to about 1400° C. in a second atmosphere lacking oxygen.

Embodiments of the present invention also include a method of annealing a substrate that includes a trench containing a dielectric material. The method includes the step of annealing the substrate at a first temperature of about 400° C. to about 800° C. in the presence of an oxygen containing gas. The method also includes purging the oxygen containing gas away from the substrate, and raising the substrate to a second temperature from about 900° C. to about 1100° C. to further anneal the substrate in an atmosphere that lacks oxygen.

Embodiments of the present invention further include an annealing system. The annealing system includes a housing configured to form an annealing chamber, and a substrate holder configured to hold a substrate within said annealing chamber, where the substrate comprises a trench filled with a dielectric material. The annealing system may further include a gas distribution system configured to introduce gases into said annealing chamber; and a heating system configured to heat the substrate. The gas distribution system introduces a first anneal gas comprising an oxygen containing gas into the chamber while the heating system heats the substrate to a first temperature of about 200° C. to about 800° C. In addition, the heating system heats the substrate to a second temperature of about 800° C. to about 1400° C. in an atmosphere lacking oxygen, after a purge of the oxygen containing gas from the chamber.

Additional features are set forth in part in the description that follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following specification or may be learned by the practice of the invention. The features and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities, combinations, and methods particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an example of a furnace anneal chamber that may be used with embodiments of the methods of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows another example of a furnace anneal chamber that may be used with embodiments of the methods of the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows an example of a rapid thermal processing (RTP) system that may be used with embodiments of the methods of the present invention;

FIG. 4 shows an example of a dielectric filled trench formed in a substrate that may be annealed according to embodiments of the method of the present invention;

FIG. 5 plots substrate temperature over a period of time according to embodiments of the method of the present invention;

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart illustrating an example of an annealing method according to embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 7 shows an electron micrograph of comparative gap-filled shallow trench isolation structures that have been conventionally annealed; and

FIG. 8 shows an electron micrograph of gap-filled shallow trench isolation structures that have been annealed according to an embodiment of the method of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As noted above, the development of voids and weak seams in trench isolations has become an increasing problem as trench widths get smaller (e.g., about 90 nm or less) and trench aspect ratios get higher (e.g., about 6:1 or higher). Embodiments of the present invention include methods of annealing these filled trenches at a lower temperature (e.g., about 200° C. to about 800° C.) in an atmosphere that includes an oxygen containing gas, followed by annealing the trenches at a higher temperature (e.g., about 800° C. to about 1400° C.) in an atmosphere that lacks oxygen.

Annealing the trenches at the lower temperature in an environment that includes one or more oxygen containing species (e.g., H₂O, NO, N₂O, O₂, etc.) rearranges and strengthens the silicon oxide network to prevent the formation of voids and opening of weak seams in the trenches. This is sometimes referred to as oxide “healing” of the seams and voids in the dielectric material. The lower temperature of the anneal keeps the oxygen from reacting with the trench walls and other portions of the silicon substrate to form undesirable oxide films.

The annealing may continue (i.e., a second step of the anneal may commence) by heating the trench isolations at the higher temperature to rearrange the structure of the dielectric material and drive out moisture, both of which increase the density of the material. This higher temperature annealing is done in an environment that lacks oxygen. The environment may be, for example, substantially pure nitrogen (N₂), a mixture of nitrogen and noble gases (e.g., He, Ne, Ar, Xe) or a substantially pure noble gas, among other types of environments that lack an oxidizing gas. The environment may also include reducing gases such as hydrogen (H₂) or ammonia (NH₃). Annealing the trenches at the higher temperature in this environment facilitates the high-temperature densification without the oxidation of the silicon substrate.

Densification of the dielectric materials in the trenches may provide a number of advantages over the originally formed undensified material, including giving the materials a slower wet etch rate. Undensified materials deposited in the trenches by, for example, spin-on techniques can have wet etch rates about 10 to about 20 times faster or more than thermally grown oxide (e.g., a wet etch rate ratio (WERR) of about 10:1 or more). Likewise, undensified materials deposited by chemical vapor deposition typically have wet etch rates of about 5:1 or more. The high wet etch rates of the undensified dielectric material can result in the overetching of this material during subsequent planarization and/or oxide etching processes. The overetching may result in the formation of bowls or gaps at the tops of the trench isolations.

Embodiments of the present invention include methods of annealing dielectric filled trenches that combines the advantages of a lower temperature anneal in an oxygen containing environment with a higher temperature anneal in a substantially oxygen free environment. These methods may be conducted in annealing systems like the exemplary annealing systems described below.

Exemplary Annealing Systems

FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of an apparatus 100 that is suitable for practicing embodiments of the present invention. The apparatus 100 comprises a process chamber 102 and a controller 180 connected to various hardware components (e.g., wafer handling robot 170, isolation valve 172 and mass flow controller 174, among others.) A detailed description of the chamber 102 has been disclosed in commonly-assigned U.S. patent application, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Heating and Cooling Substrates”, Ser. No. 09/396,007, filed on Sep. 15, 1999, and is incorporated herein by reference. A brief description of the apparatus 100 is given below.

The apparatus 100 allows for rapid heating and cooling of a substrate within a single chamber 102, which comprises a heating mechanism, a cooling mechanism and a transfer mechanism to transfer a substrate 190 between the heating and the cooling mechanisms. As shown in the embodiment of FIG. 1, the heating mechanism comprises a heated substrate support 104 having a resistive heating element 106, and the cooling mechanism comprises a cooling fluid source 176 connected to a cooling plate 108 disposed at a distance apart from the heated substrate support 104. The transfer mechanism is, for example, a wafer lift hoop 110 having a plurality of fingers 112, which is used to transfer a substrate from a position proximate the heated substrate support 104 to a position proximate the cooling plate 108. A vacuum pump 178 and an isolation valve 172 are connected to an outlet 122 of the chamber 102 for evacuation and control of gas flow out of the chamber 102.

To perform annealing, the substrate 190 is placed on the heated substrate support 104, which is preheated to a temperature between about 100° C. and about 500° C. A gas source 120 allows annealing gases to enter the chamber 102 via the gas inlet 124 and the mass flow controller 174. Gas inlet 124 may also include an ignition source, such as a spark gap (not shown) to start the combustion of oxygen (O₂) and hydrogen (H₂) for in-situ generation of steam (ISSG).

After annealing, the substrate 190 is optionally cooled to a desirable temperature, e.g., below about 100° C., or below about 80° C., or below about 50° C., within the chamber 102. This can be accomplished, for example, by bringing the substrate 190 in close proximity to the cooling plate 108 using the wafer lift hoop 110. For example, the cooling plate 108 may be maintained at a temperature of about 5 to about 25° C. by a cooling fluid supplied from the cooling fluid source 176.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the chamber 102 is also coupled to a controller 180, which controls the chamber 102 for implementing the annealing method of the present invention. Illustratively, the controller 180 comprises a general purpose computer or a central processing unit (CPU) 182, support circuitry 184, and memories 186 containing associated control software. The controller 180 is responsible for automated control of the numerous steps required for wafer processing such as wafer transport, gas flow control, temperature control, chamber evacuation, etc. Bi-directional communications between the controller 180 and the various components of the apparatus 100 are handled through numerous signal cables collectively referred to as signal buses 188, some of which are illustrated in FIG. 1.

Referring now to FIG. 2, an apparatus 200 for annealing one or more substrates 210 according to embodiments of the methods of the present invention is shown. Apparatus 200 is a hot wall furnace system that includes a three-zone resistance furnace 212, a quartz reactor tube 202, a gas inlet 204, a pressure sensor 206, and a wafer boat 208. The one or more substrates 210 may be vertically positioned upon the wafer boat 208 for annealing. The wafers are radiantly heated by resistive heating coils surrounding the tube 202. Annealing gases are metered into one end of the tube 202 (gas inlet 204) using a mass flow controller, and may be pumped out the other end of the tube 202 (e.g., via an exhaust pump).

Referring now to FIG. 3, a cross-sectional view of a rapid thermal processor (RTP) annealing chamber 300 that may be used with embodiments of the present invention is shown. An example of a RTP annealing chamber 300 is a RADIANCE® chamber that is commercially available from Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, Calif. The RTP chamber 300 includes sidewalls 314, a bottom 315, and a window assembly 317. The sidewalls 314 and the bottom 315 generally comprise a metal such as, for example, stainless steel. The upper portions of sidewalls 314 are sealed to window assembly 317 by o-rings 316. A radiant energy assembly 318 is positioned over and coupled to window assembly 317. The radiant energy assembly 318 includes a plurality of lamps 319 each mounted to a light pipe 321.

The RTP annealing chamber 300 houses a substrate 320 supported around its perimeter by a support ring 362 made of, for example, silicon carbide. The support ring 362 is mounted on a rotatable cylinder 363. The rotatable cylinder causes the support ring 362 and the substrate to rotate within the RTP chamber 300.

The bottom 315 of RTP annealing chamber 300 includes a gold-coated top surface 311, which reflects light energy onto the backside of the substrate 320. Additionally, the RTP annealing chamber 300 includes a plurality of temperature probes 370 positioned through the bottom 315 of RTP annealing chamber 300 to detect the temperature of the substrate 320.

A gas inlet 369 through sidewall 314 provides annealing gases to the RTP annealing chamber 300. A gas outlet 368 positioned through sidewall 314 opposite to gas inlet 369 removes annealing gases from the RTP annealing chamber 300. The gas outlet 368 is coupled to a pump system (not shown) such as a vacuum source. The pump system exhausts annealing gases from the RTP annealing chamber 300 and maintains a desired pressure therein during processing.

The radiant energy assembly 318 preferably is configured so the lamps 319 are positioned in a hexagonal array or in a “honeycomb” arrangement, above the surface area of the substrate 320 and the support ring 362. The lamps 319 are grouped in zones that may be independently controlled, to uniformly heat the substrate 320.

The window assembly 317 includes a plurality of short light pipes 341 that are aligned to the light pipes 321 of the radiant energy assembly 318. Radiant energy from the lamps 321 is provided via light pipes 321, 341 to the annealing region 313 of RTP annealing chamber 300.

The RTP annealing chamber 300 may be controlled by a microprocessor controller (not shown). The microprocessor controller may be one of any form of general purpose computer processor (CPU) that can be used in an industrial setting for controlling process chambers as well as sub-processors. The computer may use any suitable memory, such as random access memory, read only memory, floppy disk drive, hard drive, or any other form of digital storage, local or remote. Various support circuits may be coupled to the CPU for supporting the processor in a conventional manner. Software routines as required may be stored in the memory or executed by a second CPU that is remotely located.

The process sequence routines are executed after the substrate is positioned on the pedestal. The software routines, when executed, transform the general purpose computer into a specific process computer that controls the chamber operation so that chamber annealing is performed. Alternatively, the software routines may be performed in hardware, as an application specific integrated circuit or other type of hardware implementation, or a combination of software and hardware.

Exemplary Semiconductor Devices

Referring now to FIG. 4, an example of a dielectric filled trench formed in a substrate that may be annealed according to embodiments of the invention is shown. The trench isolation structure 400 includes a nitride layer 409 formed on pad-oxide layer 407, which is formed on substrate 402 (e.g., a silicon substrate).

A nitride gap (not shown) is formed in nitride layer 409 by depositing and patterning a photoresist layer (not shown) on the nitride layer 409 such that a portion of the nitride layer 409 overlying the gap is exposed. A nitride etch is then performed to remove the exposed portion of the nitride layer 409. After the nitride gap is formed in the nitride layer 409, an oxide layer gap (not shown) may be formed in the pad-oxide layer 407. In this step, nitride layer 409 may act as a mask layer during an oxide etch of the underlying oxide layer 407 that is exposed by the nitride gap. The oxide etch removes the exposed portion of oxide layer 407, forming the oxide gap.

Following the formation of the oxide gap, the shallow rest of the shallow trench may be formed in the substrate layer 402. This may start with a substrate etch (e.g., a silicon etch) of substrate layer 402, with nitride layer 409 and pad-oxide layer 407 acting as etch mask layers. Following the substrate etch, trench 416 that is formed may be cleaned with cleaning agents (e.g., HF). In addition, a trench side wall liner 417 may be formed in trench 416 by performing, for example, undergo a rapid thermal oxidation (RTO) (e.g,. 1000° C.) in an oxide/oxinitride atmosphere, which may also round sharp corners on the trench 416 (and elsewhere).

After trench 416 is formed dielectric material 418 may be deposited to form the trench isolation structure 400. The trench 416 may be filled with dielectric material 418 according to chemical vapor deposition (CVD) techniques (e.g., low pressure CVD, plasma CVD, etc.), or spin-on dielectric techniques, among other deposition techniques.

For example, the dielectric material may be deposited by a High Aspect Ratio Process (HARP). In one embodiment the HARP includes using an O₃/tetraethoxy silane (TEOS) based sub-atmospheric chemical vapor deposition (SACVD) trench fill process like the ones described in commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/247,672, filed on Sep. 19, 2002, entitled “METHOD USING TEOS RAMP-UP DURING TEOS/OZONE CVD FOR IMPROVED GAP FILL,” and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/757,770, filed on Jan. 14, 2004, entitled “NITROUS OXIDE ANNEAL OF TEOS/OZONE CVD FOR IMPROVED GAPFILL,” and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/057,280, filed on Jan. 25, 2002, entitled “GAS DISTRIBUTION SHOWERHEAD,” and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/674,569, filed on Sep. 29, 2003, entitled “GAS DISTRIBUTION SHOWERHEAD,” the entire contents of each of which are herein incorporated by reference.

The HARP process may include varying the ratio of Si (e.g., TEOS) to O₃, and the spacing between the substrate wafer and gas distribution plate (e.g., showerhead) over the course of the deposition of the gap materials. In the initial stages of a HARP deposition, the deposition rate may be lower by having a reduced concentration of Si relative to O₃ (e.g., a lower TEOS to O₃ ratio) and more spacing between the wafer a gas distribution plate (e.g., about 300 mils). The low deposition rate allows a more even trench fill with a reduced chance of forming voids due to, for example, bread-loafing of the fill material around the top corners of the trench.

In later stages of the HARP deposition after the trench is substantially filled, the deposition rate may be increased by increasing the concentration of Si relative to O₃ (e.g. a higher TEOS to O₃ ratio) and reducing the space between the wafer and gas distribution plate (e.g., spacing of about 100 mils), among other adjustments. This allows the more rapid deposition of the materials, which increases overall production efficiency by decreasing the deposition time. Thus, HARP depositions may include both a slower deposition rate stage when the slower rate is advantageous for reducing defects, and a higher deposition rate stage when the high rate results in shorter deposition times.

HARP depositions may be advantageous for gapfill depositions of trenches with high aspect ratios. The trench aspect ratio is the ratio of trench height (i.e., depth) to trench width, and trenches with high aspect ratios (e.g., about 6:1 or more) are more prone to develop voids during a gap fill process.

In some embodiments of the deposition of dielectric material 418, the pressure is maintained at sub-atmospheric pressures. In a specific embodiment, the pressure during the deposition process may range from about 200 torr to less than about 760 torr, although the pressure profile may remain within a much narrower range. In some embodiments the temperature is varied from about 400° C. to about 570° C., although the temperature may be maintained within a narrower range. Regulating the temperature and pressure of the chamber regulates a reaction between the silicon-containing process gas and the oxidizer-containing process gas. The WERR of the deposited material 418 may be about 6 or less prior to annealing.

Exemplary Annealing Method

FIG. 5 plots the substrate temperature over a period of time according to an example of one of the annealing methods of the present invention. The plot starts with the substrate at temperature T₁, (e.g., about 400° C.) for a time t₁ (e.g., about 5 minutes to about 30 minutes). This portion of the plot may represent the substrate sitting in an annealing chamber and coming to an initial equilibrium temperature T₁.

After time t₁, the substrate temperature my be raised to the first anneal temperature T₃ (e.g., about 800° C.) at time t₃. The time t₃ depends on the rate of the temperature ramp up from T₁ to T₃ (e.g., about 4° C./min to about 15° C./min or more).

During the ramp up to temperature T₃, an oxygen containing gas (e.g., in-situ generated steam) may be introduced to the substrate. In this example, the oxygen containing gas is introduced at time t₂ (e.g., about 15 min after t₁) when the substrate temperature is T₂ (e.g., about 600° C.). In other examples, the oxygen containing gas may be introduced at when the substrate temperature reaches T₃ (i.e., T₂=T₃ and t₂ =t₃).

The substrate, which includes trenches filled with dielectric materials, is then annealed at temperature T₃ until time t₄ (e.g., about 30 minutes after t₃). During this time any seams or voids formed during the deposition of the dielectric material in the trenches are being healed (i.e., filled with oxide materials). However, because the annealing is done at lower temperature, the reaction of oxygen with the silicon substrate and other non-oxide layers is reduced.

At time t₄, the oxygen containing gas is removed from contact with the substrate until time t₅ (e.g., about 60 minutes after t₄). The removal may be done by purging the annealing chamber holding the substrate with a dry purge gas (e.g., dry nitrogen (N₂)).

At the end of the purge period at time t₅, the temperature of the substrate may be ramped up again t₆ temperature T₄ (e.g., about 1050° C.) at time to (e.g., about 30 minutes after t₅) when the higher temperature annealing is performed. The higher temperature annealing is done in an atmosphere substantially free of oxygen (e.g., atomic, molecular, or ionic species of oxygen) from the oxygen containing gas or any other gases used during the anneal. This higher temperature annealing acts to densify the dielectric material in the trenches (e.g., the dielectric has a WERR of about 1.2:1 to about 1:1). Following the higher temperature anneal, the temperature of the substrate may be decreased down to ambient (e.g., room temperature) and the annealed substrate may be used in further fabrication steps for making semiconductor devices.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating methods of annealing according to embodiments of the invention. The illustrated method 600 includes providing a substrate 602 that has one or more trenches that are filled with dielectric material (e.g. silicon dioxide (SiO₂), etc.). The dielectric material may be formed in the trenches with a variety of deposition techniques such as chemical vapor deposition (CVD) or spin-on dielectric processes. For example, a mixture of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and ozone (O₃) may be used to deposit silicon dioxide in the gaps using thermal CVD. In other examples, dielectric materials may be deposited in the gaps using plasma enhanced CVD, and high-density plasma CVD, among other deposition techniques.

The gap filled substrate may then undergo a first anneal 604 that includes heating the substrate to a temperature of, for example, about 400° C. to about 800° C. in the presence of an oxygen containing gas (or gas mixture) for a time of about 15 to 45 minutes (e.g., about 30 minutes). In one example, the oxygen containing gas is in-situ generated steam (ISSG) that is generated by the reaction of hydrogen (H₂) and oxygen (O₂) gas in a oxy-hydrogen (i.e., H₂—O₂) torch inside a substrate annealing chamber. Other examples of oxygen containing gas include oxygen (O₂), pre-generated steam (H₂O), nitric oxide (NO), and nitrous oxide (N₂), among other gases. The oxygen containing gas may also include mixtures of different oxygen containing gases.

Other non-oxygen containing gases may be present with the oxygen containing gas (or gases). For example, hydrogen (H₂), nitrogen (N₂), and/or an inert gas such as helium (He) or argon (Ar) may be present with the oxygen containing gas. These gases may act as carrier gases that flow together with oxygen containing gas into the annealing chamber and over the substrate.

The anneal in the presence of the oxygen containing gas helps to heal seams in the gaps. For example, a weak seam may be present at the junction of the dielectric material and a sidewall of the trenches. The oxygen containing gas helps strengthen this seam even at anneal temperatures of 800° C. or lower. In addition, the anneal in the presence of the oxygen containing gas reduces the size and can even eliminate voids formed in the dielectric material.

Increasing the temperature of the anneal (e.g., greater than 800° C.) helps to drive out moisture and increase the density of the dielectric material. However, as noted above, the higher temperature annealing in the presence of oxygen containing gas causes the oxygen in the gas to react with oxidation prone materials that make up the substrate, such as silicon (Si), which is undesirable. Thus, to avoid substrate oxidation (and the oxidation of other semiconductor device components) a higher temperature anneal is performed in the absence of oxygen containing gases.

In some embodiments the oxygen containing gases may be purged at the conclusion of the first anneal 606 by flowing a non-oxygen contain gas (or mixture of gases) into the anneal chamber and over the substrate. In one example, the flow of the oxygen containing gas (or gases) may be shut off leaving the non-oxygen containing gases (e.g., dry nitrogen) as the only gases flowing over the substrate. The non-oxygen containing gases may flow through the annealing chamber for about 45 minutes to about 75 minutes (e.g., about 60 minutes) to purge the oxygen-containing gas.

The second anneal may be performed 608 following the purge 606. The second anneal may include ramping up the temperature of the substrate from about 800° C. to about 1100° C. (e.g., about 1050° C.) for about 15 minutes to about 45 minutes (e.g., about 30 minutes) in the presence of one or more non-oxygen containing gases. This second anneal is believed to increase the density of the dielectric material in the gaps to a density comparable to thermally grown dielectrics. However, this higher temperature anneal was performed in the absence of oxygen-containing gases (e.g., steam) that, at those temperatures, may oxidize materials (e.g., Si) in the gap walls and other areas of the substrate.

EXAMPLES

Referring now to FIG. 7 a scanning electron micrograph image of dielectric filled trenches in a substrate that has undergone a conventional high-temperature annealing process is shown. The dielectric deposition was done using O₃/TEOS HARP process at a temperature of 540° C. and pressure of 600 torr. The filled substrate was annealed in a dry nitrogen atmosphere at 1050° C. for 30 minutes. A void in the dielectric material is seen in first trench from the left and two more voids are clearly seen in the dielectric material in the middle trench (third from the left).

FIG. 8 shows a scanning electron micrograph image of dielectric filled trenches in a substrate that has undergone an anneal process according to an embodiment of the present invention. The dielectric deposition conditions were the same as described in FIG. 7 above. The anneal process included annealing the trench filled substrate at 600° C. in an atmosphere containing steam (H₂O) for 30 minutes, followed by a 1 hour nitrogen (N₂) purge of the annealing gases. After the purge, the substrate is annealed in dry nitrogen at 1050° C. for 30 minutes. In contrast to the comparative example above, no weak seams or voids are discernable in the image of FIG. 8.

Having described several embodiments, it will be recognized by those of skill in the art that various modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents may be used without departing from the spirit of the invention. Additionally, a number of well known processes and elements have not been described in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present invention. Accordingly, the above description should not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention.

Also, the words “comprise,” “comprising,” “include,” “including,” and “includes” when used in this specification and in the following claims are intended to specify the presence of stated features, integers, components, or steps, but they do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, components, steps, or groups. 

1-22. (canceled)
 23. An annealing system comprising: a housing configured to form an annealing chamber; a substrate holder configured to hold a substrate within said annealing chamber, wherein the substrate comprises a trench filled with a dielectric material; a gas distribution system configured to introduce gases into said annealing chamber; and a heating system configured to heat the substrate, wherein the gas distribution system introduces a first anneal gas comprising an oxygen containing gas into the chamber while the heating system heats the substrate to a first temperature of about 200° C. to about 800° C.; and the heating system heats the substrate to a second temperature of about 800° C. to about 1400° C. in an atmosphere lacking oxygen, after a purge of the oxygen containing gas from the chamber.
 24. The annealing system of claim 23, wherein the substrate stays in the chamber as the heating system raises the temperature from the first temperature to the second temperature.
 25. The annealing system of claim 23, wherein the heating system comprises a resistive heating element.
 26. The annealing system of claim 23, wherein the heating system comprises a radiant heating lamp.
 27. The annealing system of claim 23, wherein the annealing system comprises a rapid thermal processor (RTP).
 28. The annealing system of claim 23, wherein the gas distribution system is configured to introduce a gas comprising water, nitric oxide, or nitrous oxide to the annealing chamber as the first anneal gas.
 29. The annealing system of claim 23, wherein the gas distribution system is configured to introduce hydrogen and oxygen gas into the annealing chamber as the first anneal gas, and wherein the gases react to form in-situ generated steam.
 30. The annealing system of claim 23, wherein the gas distribution system is configured to deliver a gas comprising nitrogen, hydrogen, ammonia, helium, neon, argon, krypton, or xenon to the annealing chamber as the heating system heats the substrate to the second temperature.
 31. The annealing system of claim 23, wherein the heating system is programmable to change the substrate temperature from the first temperature to the second temperature at a predefined rate.
 32. The annealing system of claim 31, wherein the predefined rate is about 4° C./min.
 33. A multi-stage annealing system comprising: an annealing chamber; a substrate holder configured to hold one or more substrate wafers; a gas distribution system configured to introduce one or more first anneal gases into the chamber during a first anneal stage, and one or more second anneal gases during a second anneal stage, wherein the first anneal gases comprise an oxygen containing gas and the second anneal gases do not include oxygen; and a heating system configured to heat the annealing chamber to about 200° C. to about 800° C. during the first anneal stage and increase the temperature at a predefine rate to about 800° C. to about 1400° C. during the second anneal stage.
 34. The system of claim 33, wherein the system further comprises a gas purging system configured to remove at least a portion of the first anneal gas before the start of the second anneal stage.
 35. The system of claim 34, wherein the second anneal gas is introduced into the annealing chamber during the removal of the first anneal gas.
 36. The system of claim 34, wherein the gas purging system removes the first anneal gas for about 60 minutes.
 37. The system of claim 34, wherein the heating system heats the annealing chamber from about 600° C. to about 700° C. during the first anneal stage, and heats the annealing chamber from about 1000° C. to about 1100° C. during the second anneal stage.
 38. An annealing system comprising: an annealing chamber; a substrate holder configured to hold at least one substrate wafer; a gas distribution system configured to introduce gases into said annealing chamber; and a heating system comprising a rapid thermal processor configured first to heat the annealing chamber to about 200° C. to about 800° C. in a first atmosphere comprising an oxygen containing gas, and then heat the chamber to about 800° C. to about 1400° C. in a second atmosphere that lacks oxygen.
 39. The system of claim 38, wherein the rapid thermal processor comprises an array of lights positioned above the substrate wafer to supply radiant energy to heat the wafer, wherein each of the plurality of lights is mounted in a light pipe.
 40. The system of claim 39, wherein the annealing chamber comprises a bottom reflecting surface to reflect a portion of the radiant energy from the lights onto a backside of the wafer.
 41. The system of claim 39, wherein the array of lights are grouped into zones that are independently controlled.
 42. The system of claim 39, wherein the array of lights are arranged in a honeycomb arrangement.
 43. The system of claim 39, wherein the rapid thermal processor comprises a plurality of temperature probes facing a backside of the wafer.
 44. The system of claim 38, wherein the gas distribution system comprises a gas inlet and gas outlet positioned opposite to the gas inlet, wherein the inlet and outlet direct a flow of the annealing gases in a direction substantially parallel to a top and bottom surface of the substrate wafer. 